Blind Arrow
by Atemusluckygal
Summary: His friends are held hostage. He's been blinded by shadow magic. His half cousin is shooting arrows at him, but he refuses to hurt her. The former pharaoh isn't quite sure how to get himself and his friends out of THIS one in one piece. YamixTea
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!.**

Surprise! Another short coming your way. I'm experimenting with maintaining two stories simultaneously so that I don't give up on either story as a result of getting tired of it. One chapter of the first story published, onto the other story. We'll see what happens. It's going well so far.

And if you were ever curious as to my inspiration for this particular story - iPhone app "Archers". It's fun. It goes to show - inspiration can come from virtually anything.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Darkness was all he saw - not a single object was distinguishable. It was frightening, knowing the situation he was currently in with this new disability of which he acquired. Knowing Xanas, Yami suspected this was a new twist in a shadow game of her own doing.

"Congratulations pharaoh, you have made it to the final stage of my shadow game, in which you will participate in one final challenge."

Yami knew this voice well. It was the sinister voice of his once beloved cousin, Xanas, Akunamon's and his concubine's only daughter and Seto's long lost half sister. Unloved by her father and outcast to beg on the streets, Xanas sought to control the magic that coursed through her blood while having been adopted by a lonely old woman in the village. When Bakura, from the thief village of Kul Elna, rampaged through Xanas's home village, he broke into Xanas's guardian's small cottage, killed the old woman, raped Xanas, and burned down her home, not expecting that the unconscious girl would escape from the engulfing flames.

Not that it mattered. Bakura made it clear to her that the pharaoh was to blame and that he must die for allowing such destruction to perish the only thing she could call home.

"Xanas please, just let us go," pleaded Yami, "please be rational. Blinding me won't make me surrender to you."

Xanas seemed none too daunted at his words. Instead she said, "Feel the objects that are in your hands."

Yami did as he was told, now noticing the thick and long wooden object in his right hand, and a small sack of some sort in his left. He jiggled it slightly, hearing what sounded like small wooden sticks clacking together.

"What is the meaning of this, Xanas?" he asked, with dwindling patience.

"Those things you are holding in your hands are a bow and an unlimited supply of arrows. You will play me in a game to the death called 'Blind Arrow', in which you will utilize your other senses to not only survive, but also to defeat me with your arrows. We will take turns shooting at each other until there is only one of us still standing."

Yami stood, dumbstruck, staring into the blackness that covered his vision. He felt so disadvantaged without his sight. However, his hearing was now sharper than before, and he felt that he had an idea of where Xanas stood – approximately 30 feet from him. The murderous hatred emanating from her presence passed right through him like a wave of heat. In a fit of frustration, he threw the bow and arrows onto the floor, creating a loud, echoing noise.

"No," he said. "I will not do this with you. You're my cousin."

"Wrong-o," she replied, "I'm your half cousin. I am the bastard child of your uncle and his whore."

"Xanas, I'm sorry – "

"Sorry? You're anything but sorry... you sent your henchmen to destroy my village, murder the only person I ever cared about, and then do you know what happened?"

"Xanas I didn't – "

"He RAPED me, Yami! Your henchman burned down my house and raped me until I was unconscious and left me to die in the fire. I was only TWELVE.

And this is my 'thank you' to you for that - you will put your life in danger and suffer a slow and painful death to ensure your friends' safety. Because you sure as hell didn't give me that chance to save my guardian."

Yami took a step backwards.

"No, I refuse to participate in this madness. My henchmen were honorable men, and they wished no harm on anyone, as did I. You've been brainwashed by that man who hurt you, I would never command anyone to hurt you. I am sorry that happened to you, but it was none of my doing."

Xanas was seething now, Yami could sense it very strongly. He heard some rattling, and then the stretching of a rope.

"LIAR!"

He heard the snap of the rope, and only briefly caught the faint sound of the arrow zipping through the air at lightening speed before it tore through his right shoulder.

If Yami weren't already blinded, he would have surely been anyway by the searing pain rooting from his shoulder and spreading throughout his entire body. He would have also dropped his bow to the floor, had he still been holding it. He let out a small, croaking cry as his shaking fingers reached up near the arrow. Blood pounded in his ears, his breathing heavied, and his legs became weak.

"Sounds like I got you... it was easy to tell because I can hear your cry and your heart racing. I can sense your fear, your panic, and your helplessness. I am quite familiar with those feelings."

Yami simply couldn't take the pain at the moment, and sunk to his wobbly knees, breathing deeply to subside it. In the distance he could hear crying... a female's voice. It was Tea.

"Where is she?" He wasn't asking as much as he was demanding. "Where's Tea? And my other friends?"

"Your girlfriend and the others are here, and they're unharmed," replied Xanas. "Rest assured, they will be freed, if you defeat me. Otherwise… well, what's the point of telling you? You'll be dead."

Yami growled, mustering the strength to get on his feet again.

"Hmm, on that thought, I actually haven't decided what to do with them after you're dead. I may kill them. And you know who'd be first?"

Yami didn't answer. He was livid.

"It would be Tea. She's very annoying and not very useful at all."

It was then that Yami finally found the strength to rise to his feet once again, wincing as he forcefully pulled the arrow out of his shoulder and tossed it beside him, fury burning inside his heart. He loved all his friends equally, but Tea occupied a special place in his heart that he cared not to admit to anyone.

"You will not lay a hand on her, Xanas. Not as long as I'm still standing."

He heard a _hmph_ from his cousin.

"Hurry and shoot your arrow already, or you will lose your turn and I get to try again."

After stabilizing himself, Yami stood tall and faced in the direction from which he heard her voice. "No."

Another _hmph_ and a "fine then" came from the other side. There were slight sounds of wooden sticks, and then wooden stick against wood. Finally, the stretch of the string as tension increased.

"I think I'll aim for your heart," declared Xanas. "I can hear it beating right out of your chest."

-TO BE CONTINUED-


	2. Chapter 2

**Just an update for my faithful readers!**

**I've finally created a Twitter account! Follow Atemusluckygal for story updates and occasional author's musings. ^_^**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

_"I think I'll aim for your heart," declared Xanas. "I can hear it beating right out of your chest."_

Indeed, Yami could hear _and_ feel his heart beating against his ribcage, both from anxiety of the situation, and also to further regulate his blood flow to attend to his injury. The pounding in his ears was making it more difficult to concentrate, especially since his hearing was more essential now than ever.

It was now 0.68 seconds before the snap of the string that Yami decided he didn't want to risk acquiring another – possibly fatal – injury. He allowed gravity to assist him as he dove to the cold floor, just as the arrow grazed the tip of his hair and shot onwards into the abyss of the Shadow Realm, where the law of inertia didn't apply and there was no existing force to end its boundless journey.

Xanas was good on her word – she aimed straight for his heart, and she would have struck it dead center, ending the game, and his life.

"Yami, dear cousin? Are you still alive?" Xanas giggled. "Just so you are aware, playing dead is a direct violation of this shadow game, and breaking the rules is punishable by – "

"I know what the punishment is," Yami interrupted bitterly from the floor, recalling his darker days when he would invoke people's worst fears through brutal shadow games, such as this one. His punishments he dealt for playing dishonestly were possibly crueler than death itself. He was not proud of who he was back then. "And I am not one to try to achieve an undeserved victory." He reached out with his good arm, fishing for his bow and arrows. With great effort, he pushed himself back up to his feet, his shoulder throbbing furiously.

"Oh good, you're alive," Xanas simply stated. "Games are much more fun when the opponents are fairly matched. Your turn, almighty Pharaoh… I trust that you have been trained well in the skill of archery? I'll have you know that I hunted for both me and my guardian so we could eat every night, and my skills became very refined. Pretty soon I was able to shoot and kill deer… those fast little buggers."

Yami growled in disgust. If he shot at her, he could kill her, and her soul would be forever lost in the Shadow Realm. But if he didn't, she would not hesitate to remove him from this Earth, and his friends would be subjected to her whim, with no one to save them. It was an ultimatum that he had faced before, and he had always found a way out of it. But now, it seemed impossible. This girl was dealt too much pain for her to overcome, and the darkness had long since taken hold of her.

With the Millennium Puzzle removed from his possession and kept in a hidden location from him, the Pharaoh was as good as powerless.

He had to win.

"I'm sorry, Xanas, but I must save my friends." Yami took an arrow, and poised his shot, listening for any hint of a sound from his opponent.

"Very well, give me your best shot."

He pulled the string, his shoulder screaming at him to allow it more rest. He aimed, and fired, fighting back emerging tears as the arrow shot from his fingers. He didn't want to hit her, but he had to.

The shriek he heard from his cousin was unbearable to hear. She toppled to the floor soon after, her own quiver of arrows skidding across the floor. Yami was deathly afraid he had hit a vital point. "Xanas, are you alright?"

Fear of the extension of her injuries clutched him with ice cold fingers. All he could hear was Xanas's exasperated breathing, his own distressingly rapid heartbeat, along with a few arrows still clinking together as they continued to slide on the floor.

"Heck yeah, you got 'er Yami!" Joey piped up, from the far corner of the room, from what Yami could discern from his hearing alone. At least his friends are still alright… for now. He had to make sure that no harm would befall them – even if it cost him his life. Attacking his cousin was necessary. It was the only way to show her he meant serious business.

"Good shot, you got me in the leg," Xanas struggled to say between harbored wheezing. "Damn that hurts. But it won't be enough to take me down. Not by a long shot."

"Xanas, please – "

"SHUT UP! This isn't over, Yami!"

The darkness was rising inside of her again, Yami could sense it. The Shadow Realm was taking every opportunity it could to take advantage of her dark emotions, and saturate them beyond logical reasoning. Yami could also sense it in the way that it was bringing out his _own_ fear and anger.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound that he knew could very well soon be followed by fatality – the snap of the bowstring. No later than the particular sound register did the razor sharp head of Xanas's arrow bury itself into his stomach, just three inches left of his navel, causing the great Pharaoh to once again fall to his knees in the agony.

"YAMI!" was the desperate cry of his friends, echoing in the large, resonant chamber.

Tea's sobbing continued through the echo and afterwards.

Yami's head was surely going to burst from the incessant pounding of blood, flowing from his traumatized heart, which was now having to maintain _two_ serious injuries. Yami's shoulder injury seemed to subside in comparison to the pain of his newly acquired one. It felt as if his entire stomach area was aflame. He quickly stood, forced the arrow from his body and tossed it aside, not caring where it would land. The anguish from ripping the arrow out of his flesh caused Yami to double over once again in pain, not as sure now if he was going to be able to keep himself upright for the rest of the game.

"It's over. Take your last shot so I can aim this arrow at your heart – and this time, I will not miss."

-TO BE CONTINUED-


End file.
